Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you with your most

important job being a dad. These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy, by practical wisdom,

and insights from dads all over the world. Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

You are letting them steal from your family.

In early January, Kobe Bryant got a note from a reporter at ESPN.

She was working on a story about a moment in Lakers history, and she wanted to feature Kobe in the story.

It's one of those requests that public figures get all the time. It's part of their job, in fact.

It's one of the things that attracted them to the

job in the first place, to be in the news, to have people hear their opinion to grow their brand.

How long would it have taken to answer this inquiry? Fifteen minutes, an hour, a few emails back

and forth. Who knows? What we do know is how Kobe responded to it. And it's a response

made heartbreakingly sad, but also deeply

moving, considering his tragic death just a few years later. Can't right now, Kobe messaged to the

reporter. My girls are keeping me busy. Hit me up in a couple of weeks. How often do you have

the discipline to send something like that? How strong are you at putting your

family first? How good are your defenses against the endless requests, opportunities,

imposition, and obligations that come with your work in life? It's so easy to let people steal your time,

to let them take you away from the thing that's keeping you busy, your kids, your family,

your private space. Kobe Bryant, tragically, will not get any more time with his kids,

and they will not get any more time with him, which is what makes that text he sent such a powerful

reminder to us, a final feat of performance left there to inspire those of us continuing in the shadow

of his death.

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